Falling for Snow
by Annaxandra
Summary: There's a witch in the woods and her gaze is fixed on her beautiful reflection until someone new enters her forest and shakes things up.


The war was finally over. It was not a terribly long war, but it was long enough to be devastating for many families. Aiden had seen his friends fall to the enemy's attacks and he was glad the fighting was now over. He had said goodbye to the comrades he made and mourned those who did not survive. Now he was returning to his home which he had not seen for a little over a year. Shadow set a leisurely pace as she bore her rider from town to town. There was no hurry to return home and Aiden took what he considered a scenic route. At the age of twenty-four he had never had the opportunity to see much of the kingdom. He had been with the army the last two years and most of that was spent patrolling the borders which were not terribly exciting. With his scenic route, he could see some of the inner towns and cities. If Aiden had figured right, it would be about fourteen days to reach his destination on the route he had planned – perhaps longer if he favored one town and choose to stay for a bit.

Aiden pulled up his sleeve to inspect the bandage that was wrapped around his upper arm. An arrow had grazed his bicep in one of the final battles, but now it was healing splendidly. He flexed and flinched. So he didn't have full mobility yet, but the pain wasn't terrible. The country he was riding through now was quite beautiful. As he readjusted his sleeve he examined the rolling green hills and the forest just beyond. It was a picturesque day with a blue sky that set off the vibrant colors of early autumn. The tops of the trees that were visible over the hills were adorned with red, orange, yellow, green, brown, and even faint purple in some places. At the crest of the next hill Aiden would be able to see the full glorious expanse of the forest. It was as perfect as he imagined. The rolling forest stretched out until beyond the horizon in the distance. Its trees rose and fell with the shape of the land and Aiden could hear the breeze blowing through the trees. He could also see the edge of a town further along the road he was traveling on. It appeared to be built just on the edge of the forest and some of the building's roofs could be seen above the surrounding trees with smoke curling from the chimneys. The dirt road the led to the town twisted around one of the hills and a small stream to pass through the edge of the trees.

Scenic route indeed, Aiden thought to himself. This town looks like it could have come out of a painting.

Eager to see if the town was as picturesque as its surrounding country side, Aiden urged Shadow to go faster. The horse's hooves crunched on the fallen leaves that littered the sun dappled road. Small yellow birds tweeted before chasing each other around the branches and through the leaves. It was late afternoon and the sun was casting rays of sparkling light between the leaves creating a peaceful atmosphere. Aiden considered staying in this place for an extra day simply because it was so calm and quiet. Perhaps there was a small inn that had a spare room for him…

A rustling distracted Aiden from his thoughts and he turned to his left. Something had just moved through the undergrowth because a clump of ferns was still shaking. It must have been a fairly big something for the noise it was making. Aiden could just see more greenery moving in the distance as the thing moved further away into the forest. It could have just been a deer or maybe a badger. Even knowing it was probably just some common woodland creature, Aiden still dismounted Shadow to follow it. He wanted to see what it was since he had never been in a forest like this before. Making sure to keep his sword handy, Aiden pushed into the undergrowth at the side of the road. His thick leather boots and pants protected him from anything that might have been lurking just out of sight on the forest floor.

Aiden went deeper into the forest until he could no longer look back and see the path. Whatever had rustled the ferns before had disappeared and Aiden was no tracker. If he went too far into the forest he might not have an easy time finding his way back. Sighing in defeat, Aiden turned back to face the way he had came. Then there was a rustling again. He spun around and saw where some bushes were moving at the top of a small rise just ahead. What looked to be two feet were poking out from beneath the greenery. Someone else was in the forest.

As quietly as he could, Aiden made his way up the small rise. As he got closer legs came into view as well as the feet. It was obviously a woman. Beneath black and white striped stockings the legs were slim and shapely. The red boots with gold buckles kicked as the woman crawled deeper under the bushes on her stomach. She must not have been aware of the man standing behind her. Aiden stifled his laughter with a hand over his mouth when the strange person cursed quietly. The black ruffled skirt had caught on a twig and a hand reached back to try and untangle it. Whoever she was, this woman was not dressed from tromping around in a forest. Decided she was not much of a threat, Aiden crouched down and tapped one of her stocking clad ankles. With a shriek the woman kicked out and Aiden fell backwards to avoid the flying legs.

Now her face came into view. Her left cheek had a smudge of dirt and her large blue eyes blazed angrily. A tangle of long blonde hair was tied up on her head haphazardly and there was a leaf stuck between the strands. She looked young, Aiden guessed somewhere around seventeen. Her over-sized white shirt was hanging off of one shoulder exposing tanned skin that was also smudged with dirt and bore a small scratch. It looked like she had been crawling around the forest all day

"Who are you?" She demanded angrily.

Aiden smiled. He had to do something with his mouth. He was sure that if he tried to keep a straight face the laughter would come bubbling out at the absurdity of this girl. Perhaps his smile was a bit too wide, but he managed to not laugh out loud. From where he sat on the forest floor, he offered his hand to the girl before him. "My name is Aiden. It's nice to meet you."

The girl looked at his hand as if it was some sort of new creature that had just crossed her path. She sniffed and turned back to lie down under the bushes again. "Go away, Aiden."

Aiden was stunned. He had never met someone who was so rude to him, let alone a woman. He knew he was handsome and he had given this one a charming smile that usually had women swooning. She hadn't even introduced herself like a regular person would have. Then she had just dismissed him like he was somehow bothering her. Well, he was going to make her talk to him and find out why she was crawling around the forest. He got down on his belly and slid under the bushes next to her.

She ignored him and continued peering out into the forest. From the top of the rise, Aiden could see fairly far into the forest and that was where the girl was looking. "What are we looking at?" He asked cheekily.

The girl didn't even turn her head to look at him. Instead she made an annoyed sound before answering. "We are not looking at anything. I am looking for something and you should be going off on your own merry way."

"Fine then, what are you looking for?"

Now she turned to look at him. Aiden gave her a friendly smile which only seemed to annoy her more. She was an odd one and Aiden found it amusing watching her get riled up. She looked half mad with her hair falling out all over the place and her strange outfit.

"That is none of your concern." She snapped. "Please leave. Now."

"Oh, a please," Aiden teased. "I almost thought you didn't have any manners. Since you are suddenly so polite, I think it is only fair that you tell me your name since I told you mine."

"I'm leaving." The girl scooted out from underneath the bush and brushed off her ruffled skirt. There was still a leaf tangled in her hair as she stood up and muttered, "The northern oak has a better vantage point any way."

Aiden scooted out after her and stood up. He knew it was unusual for him to follow her as she stomped off, but it was unusual for her to be traipsing around the forest. He was a few steps behind her when she walked away and she was so busy dusting herself off she did not realize he was following her immediately. She noticed when he fell in step with her. "What are you doing?"

Aiden shrugged. He reached over to pull the leaf from her hair and she slapped at his hand. One thing was for sure, she was a feisty one. Aiden found it amusing. "Word is that the northern oak has a better vantage point."

The woman stopped and crossed her arms in a perfect annoyed stance. "You don't even know what you are looking for. Do you even know where the northern oak is? You aren't even from around here. I've never seen you before. You shouldn't even be in this forest. Who are you and why are you following me?"

"I told you, my name is Aiden. I'm not following you; I just want to know your name. Is that too terribly much to ask?"

"Fine. My name is Snow; will you leave me alone now?" Her big eyes stared at Aiden intently and her lips were pressed together in a hard line.

Aiden tilted his head. He didn't believe her. "Snow isn't a name; it's a weather condition. So are you going to tell me your real name?"

"Ugh," Snow exclaimed as she threw her arms into the air. "You are infuriating. What are you, some crazy man who wanders around forests annoying people? Why can't you just leave me alone?"

Aiden pretended to be offended. "I am not crazy. You were the one wandering around the forest first. I am just sticking around to make sure that you are safe. You never know what is lurking behind the trees." He laid a hand on his sword proudly. "I am a soldier after all and I could protect you."

He had expected her to be impressed that he fought in the war, but instead she laughed. Her unexpected response caused Aiden to narrow his eyes slightly in confusion. He might have even anticipated another angry outburst, but not a laugh. Snow looked at him again and laughed. She turned and started walking away. She was still laughing. Aiden ran a few steps to catch up with her. Now he wanted to know why she had laughed at him. No one laughed at him. He had not said something funny. Maybe she really was crazy. In that case, Aiden thought he might have to get her back to the town before she hurt herself.

"What's so funny?" Aiden asked when he caught up to her.

"You really have no idea do you?" Snow was smiling and shaking her head as if Aiden was some ignorant child. "You just run along, soldier boy. The road is that way just in case you're lost."

"I'm not lost!" Aiden was indignant. He probably wouldn't have been able to find his way back to the road on his own, but he was not going to let Snow know that. He hated being treated like he was inferior, especially from this crazy woman running around the forest in what looked like passed down clothes from a mad clown. "And I am most definitely not a boy." He was affronted by the juvenile term. He stood nearly a head taller than Snow and was without doubt more man than boy. He had fought in a war!

"Then stop pestering me like some whiny child!"

This made Aiden stop in his tracks. Snow continued on stomping through the underbrush. He wasn't whiny and she was the most maddening woman he had ever met. He didn't even know why he had followed her, or talked to her in the first place. She was just some young girl who was strange enough to tromp through forests. He didn't care what she was searching the forest for and he didn't care to ever see her again. "Fine," He shouted to her retreating form.

"Fine," She called back with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Angry and annoyed that he needed Snow's direction to find the road again, Aiden went off in the direction she had mentioned. He barely paid attention where he was walking and stumbled over a fallen log that was partially hidden under fallen leaves. This only caused him to become more irate as he broke out of the underbrush and onto the road. At first he didn't see Shadow, but by walking back down the road a little ways he soon found his horse standing right where he left her. When he approached to grab the reins, Shadow snorted and shook her head. The horse could probably sense his foul mood.

"Don't you start with me too," Aiden ground out.

Aiden held onto his foul mood for awhile longer, but his annoyance faded by the time he reached the town. It was such a small town that the road he had arrived on appeared to be to town's main road. There were other smaller lanes that branched off from the main one, but they all seemed to wind and twist into nothing after a few buildings. Because there were so few roads, the inn was not difficult to find. It was between a baker's shop and a rickety old house that was nearly as large as the inn itself. Aiden tethered his horse to a post that was in front of the inn. He hoped there would be better accommodations for Shadow somewhere so she could be out of the weather. The inn was called the Stone Giant and a grey giant wielding a club was painted on the wooden sign hanging above the door.

Inside was quiet and dark and smelled of cooked meat. There was an old woman behind a counter at one side and only three of the tables were occupied. The already hushed conversations stopped when Aiden entered. All eyes turned to look at him and for a moment he considered leaving and going to the next town. The stares were not entirely welcoming and they all seemed suspicious of him.

It was the old woman who spoke first, "Hello there, traveler. I suspect you want a room for the night. My name is Minny and I'm the innkeeper's wife. I can set you up with a real nice room if you like. We don't get many visitors in our small town."

Minny seemed like a sweet enough old lady. Aiden wasn't sure how far it was to the next town and everyone had gone back to their conversations now. He smiled at the woman and approached the counter. He paid for one room and she led him up some stairs. There was a short hallway with about ten rooms. If this was all the space the inn had, they really must not have gotten many outsiders coming into town. The room was small with the basic furniture – bed, wash basin, chest, table, and chair. Just before Minny left Aiden alone he asked about his horse. The old woman smiled and nodded her head. She informed him that someone would bring him his saddle bags and put Shadow in the stables in the back. Then she left and Aiden looked around his temporary living quarters. The bed was soft enough and the window let in the light from the setting sun. His stomach grumbled, reminding him how insubstantial travel rations were.

Might as well go and see what they have around here to eat, Aiden thought. He had seen some of the people eating when he had come in so they must have served meals downstairs. He returned to the common room and found Minny back behind the counter. She knew exactly why he had come down and told him to take a seat. In minutes a steaming plate of roast lamb and potatoes was brought out to him along with a mug of cider. The young man who brought the food out was no more than sixteen and rushed back into the kitchen as soon as the plate was on the table. Aiden was surprised by the strange behavior and was starting to think that maybe this whole town was mad.

One of the groups from the other table got up and left. The now empty table left Aiden staring straight into the face of an old man at the table in the corner. He wore little round spectacles and had neatly combed white hair. The man smiled when he caught Aiden's eye. "Don't pay any mind to young Wyatt. He doesn't talk to anyone and is a skittish around newcomers. Minny loves him to death though, nicknamed him Dopey. I guess the name stuck because that's what everyone calls him now. You can call me Doc."

Aiden returned the man's smile and introduced himself. Maybe everyone in the town wasn't off their rockers just yet. Doc came and settled himself in the chair across the table. "Well, go ahead and eat. Minny makes the best lamb and taters in the kingdom, but I don't think you came for them. So what brings you over this way, Aiden?"

Between bites Aiden explained that he was returning from the war. The man was chatty and they talked while Aiden ate. It turned out the Doc was an old army medic who fought in the last war over thirty years ago. They continued to talk about various topics until Aiden was done eating and Dopey had rushed out to take his plate before running back to the kitchen. As the kitchen door banged closed, the front door banged open. Aiden turned to see Snow walk in and lean over to give Doc a peck on the cheek. She didn't seem to notice Aiden sitting right across from the old doctor.

"You will never believe what happened to me today," She huffed to him.

"Is this your daughter?" Aiden asked. He relished the look of pure shock that crossed Snow's features when she saw him. Her mouth hung open and she seemed at a loss for words.

"No, she's not my daughter. I just look after her. Her father disappeared about a year ago and I took her in after that." Doc pulled out the seat next to him for Snow.

She flopped down into it and pointedly did not look in Aiden's direction. Instead she faced Doc and whispered. "Doc, he doesn't need to know about all that. He's just a pest who wouldn't leave me alone in the forest. He probably wouldn't care anyway, or wouldn't believe you. Most people don't. Just let him be on his way and go about doing whatever it is soldier boys do."

Aiden ground his teeth. He had to get her to stop calling him that. "Know about all what?" He asked. He wanted to know anything that she didn't want him to know just to irk her.

Doc settled back in his chair in preparation for a long story. Snow was shaking her head and Aiden was listening intently. "Well, most people think the stories are just make believe, but there are a few who know the truth of it."

"Doc," Snow warned.

He paid no mind and went on with his story. "There's a story that we tell our children in this town about the thing that lives in the forest."

Aiden could tell that Doc had told this story many times before. His words were like he was recounting an old familiar story – practiced and precise. The old man leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. Beside him, Snow groaned and put her head down on the table. Aiden leaned in too. The small town lore intrigued him already and he hadn't even heard any yet.

"The stories are true and deep in the woods there is a…"

"Oh, now don't you pay any attention to Doc here, Aiden. He's a bit nutty in the head and believes those old stories. There is nothing in those woods that is more dangerous than perhaps a bear. " Minny had come over to their table and interrupted the beginning of the story.

Doc banged his fist on the table in annoyance. "The stories are as real as you and me. It's only because you are spelled to not see any of the proof that you don't believe me. That witch has you all under her spell and we are in danger. If you all would just listen to me then maybe we could do something about it, but you are all so blinded. Now, me and Snow here, we know the truth." He wrapped his arm awkwardly around the girl's slumped form.

"Witch?" Aiden asked. Some of the soldiers told stories of witches and warlocks who would sometimes plague cities and towns. No one had ever met anyone who had seen a real witch, it was all just stories of stories. Even if Doc and Snow where mad as a box of frogs, stories of magical beings were always Aiden's favorites. Maybe if there was really some sort of witch in those trees, Aiden would meet her first hand. Then he would have quite a story to tell when he returned home. He could at least see what Doc considered 'proof' of magic in the forest.

Minny rolled her eyes and walked away. Aiden watched the woman walk away. She must have given Doc the same speech many times before and Aiden was sure that the old man never listened because he went right on with his tale.

"Well, there really is a witch in that forest. She lives in a run down castle in the darkest heart of the trees where no sunlight ever reaches." Doc began again. So far it sounded similar to many of the other stories Aiden had heard. "She takes people from this very town to use in her black magic spells. Usually she takes people who will not be missed, but recently she has been taking other people who are missed. Now I've never seen her myself, but I know from my own parents that the forest is not as old as it looks. They were just wee tykes at the time, but they told me that the forest just appeared one day. It must have been little over ninety years ago when it appeared. Now, I'm sure my face looked just like yours did now. I didn't believe them either, but it's true. You just have to look in the forest to see the truth. The only problem is no one ever goes into that forest and so everyone thinks that it is just some fairy story."

With her head still on the table, Snow was shaking her head. Aiden raised an eyebrow at her odd behavior, but didn't say anything. Maybe she didn't want him rambling on about the witch nonsense anymore than Minny did. It was a very perfunctory story that Aiden had heard many times before with only insignificant details that were different. One story had the witch living at the bottom of a lake, one had her stealing only children – either way none of the stories could be proven true. It was all hearsay and rumors. This particular story seemed to be only the ramblings of a man whose mind had seen better days.

Still, Aiden thought he would humor the man just for the sake of annoying Snow. "So how do you know there really is a witch if you have never seen her?"

Doc leaned forward even further as if he was imparting some great secret. He raised his left hand before his face so Aiden could clearly see the wedding band there. "My wife was taken by this witch. When I returned from the war, everyone told me that she had just disappeared, but my Mary wouldn't just leave. That witch took her along with…"

"Nope," Snow leapt up and nearly tugged Doc off his chair. "You are not sharing all of that with him. You've had your fun and told him your story and now we are leaving. I am quite sure that Aiden does not want to hear about the Dwarves and all their troubles. It was a nice little story time, but you are going home now."

Doc regained his footing as Snow hauled him out the door. She didn't give Aiden so much as a backward glance as they left. Doc tried to say a proper goodbye, but the mad woman wouldn't let him. Of course the stories were not true and she may be embarrassed by his constant telling of them, but Snow had no right to haul him out of the inn so roughly. She was such a brat. She couldn't even let Doc tell his stories without throwing a fit. Aiden shook his head and returned to his room for the night. He found his saddle bags with all his supplies just inside the door. He took out a change of clothes for the night that were more comfortable than his leather riding gear. He picked up the book that had been lying on the small table before settling into the bed. Aiden would at least be able to read a bit before falling asleep. It was a book of fairy tales. He thought it an appropriate end to such a day after meeting Snow and Doc.

* * *

Time for a new story don't you think? I'm just going to leave this here and see if it's worth continuing later.

[Title and Summary are subject to change]


End file.
